Revelations of the Diplomatic History of the 18th Century

60 This passage in The Free Press of September 20, 1856 was preceded by the following editorial note: “Our readers may, perhaps, require to be reminded that the following is a quotation from a pamphlet published in London, in 1716, and entitled the ‘Northern Crisis’. Our last number contained the recital (copied from “The Northern Crisis”) of the Danish Minister’s reasons for delaying the descent upon Schonen.”

61 That is, the War of the Spanish Succession (see Note 51).

62 This refers to an episode in the first stage of the Northern War (1700-21) — the defeat of the Russian troops at Narva on November 30, 1700.

63 A reference to the Peace Treaty of Altranstadt concluded on September 24, 1706 between Augustus If, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and Charles XII of Sweden. Under the provisions of the treaty, Augustus If was to abdicate from the Polish throne in favour of Stanislaus Leszczynsk and annul the union with Russia.

64 See Note 55.

65 This sentence opens the next instalment in The Free Press on October 4, 1856.

The editors of the newspaper preceded it with the following comment: “We beg to remind our readers that the following is part of a pamphlet written in-, and entitled the ‘Northern Crisis’, and that it is a continuation of ‘Important Reflections’ on the Danish Minister’s ‘Reasons for delaying the descent upon Schonen'”.

66 This refers to a 9,000-strong Russian detachment summoned by the Grand Duke Karl Leopold to Mecklenburg in 1716. The Duke was married to Peter I’s niece Yekaterina Ivanovna. The same year the detachment was withdrawn from the duchy.

67 A reference to what is known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation founded in 9(52 when Otto I, the German King, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. By the eighteenth century the Empire, ruled by sovereigns from the Habsburg dynasty, lost its political influence: it ceased to exist on August 6, 1806.

68 A reference to the war waged by Austria and her ally, the Venetian Republic, against Turkey in 1716-18.

69 Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony (1694-1733) and King of Poland (1697-1706 and 1709-33), adopted the Catholic faith to facilitate his election to the Polish throne.

70 Marx means the pamphlet: [G. Mackenzie,] Truth is but Truth, as it is Timed! Or, our Ministry’s present Measures against the Moscovite vindicated by Plain and Obvious Reasons, Trying to Prove, etc., London, 1719.

71 On August 2, 1718 Britain, Austria and France concluded an alliance against Spain with a view to retaining the provisions of the Peace Treaty of Utrecht, which confirmed the results of the War of the Spanish Succession (see notes 51 and 236). On August 22 of that year the British fleet attacked and destroyed the Spanish fleet near the Cape of Passaro (Sicily).